Alney McLean
| birth_place = Burke County, North Carolina | death_date = | death_place = Greenville, Kentucky | restingplace = Old Caney Station Cemetery | restingplacecoordinates = | party = Democratic-Republican | spouse = Tabitha Russell Campbell | occupation = Surveyor | profession = Lawyer | religion = | branch = United States Army | serviceyears = 1812 – 1815 | rank = Captain | unit = | commands = | battles = War of 1812 | awards = }} Alney McLean (June 10, 1779 – December 30, 1841) was a United States Representative from Kentucky. McLean County, Kentucky is named in his honor. Early life McLean was born to Ephraim and Eliza (Davidson) McLean in Burke County, North Carolina on June 10, 1779.Kleber, p. 599 He pursued preparatory studies.Congressional Biography In 1820, Ephraim McLean moved the family to Muhlenberg County, Kentucky.Rothert, p. 72 At age twenty, he moved to Kentucky and was appointed surveyor of Muhlenberg County, Kentucky. In this capacity, he laid out Greenville, Kentucky, the county seat, and was elected a trustee of that city when it was formed in 1799. On November 16, 1805, McLean married Tabitha Russell Campbell, daughter of Revolutionary War general William Campbell; the couple had ten children.Biographical Encyclopedia of Kentucky One of McLean's grandsons, William C. McLean, became an Associate Justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court. Political and military career McLean studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1805 and commenced practice in Greenville. He showed little interest in politics until at least 1808.Rothert, p. 71 He was first elected to office in 1812, representing Muhlenberg County in the Kentucky House of Representatives from 1812 to 1813. At the outset of the War of 1812, McLean organized a company of volunteers.Rothert, p. 70 Records show that the company was enlisted September 18, 1812. In 1813, he organized a company ultimately commanded by Lewis Kincheloe, then raised another company that he commanded personally both under General Samuel Hopkins in his campaigns against the Indians and at the Battle of New Orleans.Biographical sketch of the Hon. Lazarus W. Powell He took offense to General Andrew Jackson's charge that the Kentuckians "ingloriously fled" during the battle, and remained a political opponent of Jackson's for the remainder of his career. McLean was elected as a Republican to the Fourteenth Congress, serving from March 4, 1815 to March 3, 1817. He returned to Congress in 1819, serving in the Sixteenth Congress. After leaving Congress, he was appointed a circuit judge of the fourteenth district of Kentucky, a position he held until his death. As a presidential elector in 1824 and 1832, McLean twice cast his vote for Kentucky's favorite son, Henry Clay. Later life Around 1820, McLean and his son William discovered coal on the family farm near the now-defunct town of Paradise. However, at the time, wood was more plentiful and convenient, and the discovery was largely overlooked. In 1830, the McLeans mined some of the coal and sent it to Russellville, Kentucky on ox wagons and via barges down the Green River to Owensboro, Kentucky and Evansville, Indiana. The McLean mine was one of the first commercial mines in Muhlenberg County and was later valued above other mines in the county because of its transportation facilities.Rothert, pp. 389–390 McLean died of pneumonia near Greenville, Kentucky in 1841 and was buried in Old Caney Station Cemetery, near Greenville, Kentucky. McLean County, Kentucky was formed from Muhlenberg and other counties in 1854 and named in honor of Alney McLean. References * * * * * External links *Alney McLean entry at The Political Graveyard * Category:1779 births Category:1841 deaths Category:American people of the War of 1812 Category:Deaths from pneumonia Category:Infectious disease deaths in Kentucky Category:Kentucky Democratic-Republicans Category:Kentucky lawyers Category:Members of the Kentucky House of Representatives Category:Members of the United States House of Representatives from Kentucky Category:People from Burke County, North Carolina Category:United States Army officers de:Alney McLean